Both men and women experience depression, but their symptoms are often very different. As men who are depression might appear to be aggressive or angry instead of sad, their families and friends might not always recognize these symptoms as depressive symptoms.
Additionally, menare less likely than women to recognize and seek treatment for theillness. Yet we know that depression affects large numbers of men.
What is depression?
Everyone feels irritable or sad once in awhile, but these feelings usually pass after a few days. Depression is a serious mood disorder which occurs frequently in our society. Depression affects people’s ability to think, feel and to handle daily activities of life.
Men and women both get depression, but their openness to talk about feelings might be very different. This is one of the reasons that symptoms of depression for men and women are often very different.
Men with depression may hide their emotions and might seem to be angry or aggressive, whereas women might seem sad or express sadness. Men with depression might feel tired and lose interest in work, family or their hobbies. They might have difficulty sleeping. Sometimes, mental health problems appear tobe physical issues.
For example, a racing heart, tightening of the chest or digestive issues can all be signs of mental health problems. Men are more likely to see their doctor about physical problems than emotional problems.
Serious repercussions
Some men might turn to drugs or alcohol toattempt to cope with their emotional symptoms. While women with depression more often attempt suicide, men are morelikely to die as a result of suicide, as they tend to use more lethal methods.
Depression affects men of any age. With the right treatment, the majority of men with depression are able to get better and gain their interest back in work, family and hobbies.
What are signs and symptoms of depressed men?
- Anger, aggressiveness and irritability
- Feeling anxious or restless
- Loss of interest in once-pleasurable activities
- Problems with sexual desire
- Feeling sad, flat or hopeless
- Inability to concentrate or remember details
- Feeling tired, having problems sleeping or sleeping too much
- Not wanting to eat or overeating
- Suicide attemptsor thoughts or suicide
- Physical pains, cramps, headaches and digestive problems
- Feeling a need for alcohol or drugs
- Withdrawal from friends and family
Not every man who experiences depression has every symptom. Some men only experience a few symptoms while others might experience many.
What are the types of depression?
Major depression. Symptoms that interfere with a man’s ability to sleep, work, study and eat. Major depressions episodes might only occur once in a person’s lifetime, although it is common for people to have several episodes.
Subtypes of major depression includes:
- Psychotic depression. A severe type of depression which is associated with delusions or hallucinations. These psychotic symptoms are depression related. For example, a man might believe he is ill or poor when he is not, or he might hear voices that tell him he is worthless
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Characterized by depression symptoms which appear during the winter months when there is less sunlight.
- Persistent depression disorder. Depressive symptoms which last 2 years of longer, but are not as severe as those of major depression.
- Minor depression. Similar to major depression, but symptoms are not as severe and might not last as long.
What causes depression in men?
- Genetic factors. Men who have a family history of depression might be more likely to develop depression than men whose family members do not have the illness.
- Environment stress. Loss of a loved one, financial problems, major life changes, a difficult relationship, work problems or other stressful situations might trigger depression in men.
- Illness. Depression sometimes occurs with other serious medical illness, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease or Parkinson’s disease. Depression might make these conditions worse and vice versa. Sometimes, medications which are taken for this illness can cause side effects which trigger or worsen symptoms of depression.
If you are a man and suspect that you might be depressed, you have options for treatment. Individual therapy allows you to talk to someone about your problems and get to the root of your depression.
Individual therapy can be conducted face to face, or it can be conducted online as online psychotherapy. Online psychotherapy is becoming more popular these days, particularly as the covid-19 pandemic has meant that sometimes it is not possible to access counselors in a face-to-face setting.
